Saturday, October 24, 2009

Week 7 – Indianapolis @ Rams Matchup

Sunday Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts should be in for an early Thanksgiving against the St. Louis Rams. This could be one of the biggest mis-matches in NFL history. The Indianapolis Colts have won 14 straight games, while the St. Louis Rams have lost 16 straight games. The Colts are a 14.5 point favorite as the road team. If your a Rams fan every stat is a nightmare to scary to even look at. On paper the Rams should never be in this one on Sunday.

The Rams have allowed opponents to complete 67% of their passes and on Sunday they will face Peyton Manning one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. Manning has been on fire early in the 2009 NFL season with a 73.5 completion percentage and a QB rating of 114.1! Manning has started the season with five consecutive 300-yard passing games. With Ron Bartell coming back from a concussion and Justin King possibly out with a groin injury it will be like shooting fish in a barrel for Manning.

Dallas Clark who leads the Colts in receptions with 35, and already has 441 yards in only 5 games will be licking his chops coming into this one. The Rams who traded Will Witherspoon earlier in the week to the Philadelphia Eagles will be starting journeyman Paris Lenon, rookie James Laurinaitis and second year man Larry Grant as their starting linebackers. Look for Clark to have a huge game, the Rams will have no answer for the Manning to Clark duo.

Are the Rams already afraid of the Colts? The Rams are leaning toward starting Adam Goldberg at right tackle even though rookie first-round choice Jason Smith is healthy enough to play. The Rams are worried about Robert Mathis handing it to Smith. Either way we are looking at Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney against Alex Barron and Adam Goldberg, yikes. The two have combined for 10.5 sacks already. With Marc Bulger holding the ball too long and probably playing from behind look for the Colts to just tee off.

The Colts are 5th in scoring offense while the Rams are 30th in points allowed. The Colts are 1st in passing offense while the Rams are 27th against the pass. The Rams are dead last in points scored while the Colts average 27+ points per game.

The Rams who have ZERO rushing touchdowns will have to beat the Colts through the air and that means Marc Bulger will need to out dual Peyton Manning. Sorry I just started laughing a little. With the Rams defense allowing opponents to keep the ball with a 50% 3rd down conversion rate look for Manning to move the Rams around like chess pieces and put on a clinic in this one.

Tye Hill Gets Second Chance With The Falcons

The St. Louis Rams drafted cornerback Tye Hill out of Clemson 15th overall in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. The Rams traded Tye Hill to the Atlanta Falcons on September 1, 2009 for a 2010 7th round draft pick prior to the 2009 season starting. This move still makes little to no sense to me. With a defensive coach like Steve Spagnuolo coming to the St. Louis Rams why not see if he can coach up Hill to play better. I know Hill is coming off another knee injury and has lost confidence but he was the fastest player at the 2006 combine running a 4.31 40 yard dash why not see if we can get him playing better than ever? Hill was already on a 5 year contract through 2010, and with a thin secondary already, you think the Rams would try to work more with who they had to work with.

This week we will see if the Rams made another player personnel mistake as Tye Hill is set to start against the Dallas Cowboys. The Falcons starting cornerback Brian Williams, who suffered a season-ending knee injury is the break Hill needed to get back into the lineup. Hill now has his second chance lets see what he can do with it. The Falcons at 4-1 are set for another playoff run, and I believe Tye Hill may play his best now with another chance with a good team. Unless the Rams truly believe that Hill's knee injuries have ended his career, I believe they let him go as under salary dump. I do not believe that Spagnuolo wants bigger more physical cornerbacks as the sole reason for the trade. Hill is 5-10 185 which is basically the same size as Justin King and Jonathan Wade who both still find themselves on the Rams roster.

NFL Kisses New England Patriots Ass Again!

Let's face it the NFL has kissed the New England Patriots ass since 9/11. This team has gotten call after call for 8 years now, when will it end? Well apparently no time soon. After last Sunday when the Patriots embarrassed the Tennessee Titans 59-0, the league actually had the nerve to fine two Titans players for touching Tom Brady. Chris Hope was fined $10,000 for a helmet to helmet hit, and Tony Brown was fined $5,000 for touching Brady's helmet. I saw both hits and Giselle Bundchen smacks Tom on the ass when he leaves the house harder than these two hit him.

The person who should have been fined is Jeff Fisher. The Patriots who were up 45-0 at halftime came out with all of their starters in to start the 3rd quarter in a snow storm! Not only that but the Patriots were in the shotgun on the first play of the drive, and ended up going 65 yards in 9 plays (6 of them passes!!!) to go up 52-0! Jeff Fisher you should be fined for not having your players take care of this. It is time for teams to step up and punch the Patriots in the mouth. Your players should have been livid, instead they just laid down. Teams should come out and hammer Wes Welker within the 5 yard area and bring pressure and lay some shots on Brady. Penalties be damned let's bring the pain to the Patriots, the NFL, and ESPN.

NFL Week 7 Predictions

Just an awful week last week, I sucked more than the Tennessee Titans. There have been a ton of 10+ point spreads in the NFL lately and last week was underdog week. Every week I will make my NFL game day predictions. I would love it if you share your opinions, or your own predictions in the comment area of our St. Louis Rams Blog. All picks will be straight-up, not against the spread. Good Luck. Week 7 Predictions below:

Brandon Gibson Highlight Video

For those of you unfamiliar with the St. Louis Rams new receiver Brandon Gibson you can watch the Highlight Videos of him below from his Washington State games. Gibson did not dress for any of the Eagles games this year but he did play well enough in the preseason to make the Eagles roster.

Rams Trade Will Witherspoon To Eagles

In a MLB type salary dump the St. Louis Rams traded OLB Will Witherspoon to the Philadelphia Eagles on the last day of the NFL trading deadline. The Rams will receive rookie wide receiver Brandon Gibson and a 5th-round draft pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Witherspoon who will make 2.5 mill this year and 5 million in 2010, and 2011 has become too rich for the Rams blood. The Rams will tell you they are getting younger and acquiring more draft picks, I will tell you the roster is worse today than yesterday. While the Rams preach patience Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez are dropping the bottom line. As a Rams season ticket holder I have seen the Rams lose 33 of 38 games, 16 straight, and drop player after player from the roster that now play for other teams in the NFL. Rams, my patience is running out.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Brad Grogan's Rams Fan Point Of View

This week we asked fellow Rams fan and college football player Brad Grogan his thoughts on the St. Louis Rams 23-20 OT loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. See if you agree with Brad's synopsis of the game and the Rams:

The Rams fell to 0-6 on Sunday with a discouraging 23-20 loss in OT. Here are some stats that tell the story of the game:

Opinion: The stats tell it all. We couldn’t move the ball consistently on offensive and defensively we couldn’t stop them. Turnovers were the reason this game was close, without them the Rams are beat by at least 14 points. The Jaguars are 3-3 on the year and their defense is 25th in pts allowed, 24th in yards allowed, 12th in rush yards allowed and 30th in pass yards allowed (these rankings are after the game on Sunday). There is no way we shouldn’t have been able to move the ball against these guys. We didn’t because we don’t have any talent. Five people on the injury report after the game including leaders at WR and LB. Yes we held them to 23 points and lost in OT, but anyone who watched the game could tell the Jags dominated and deserved to win by much more. The question on many sportscasters’ minds: Are we closer to winning? Will 262 yards of offense get it done against the Colts? No! Lions? Maybe! The best possible outcome for next week is to keep everyone healthy and move the ball offensively. If I were drawing up the game plans, offensively they would include screen passes, draws, and reverses and oh yes a double pass! Why not! If we can’t beat them straight up why not try and steal a few points on a trick play. Fake a punt and/or field goal while were at it! People want to say our defense has improved. Well we have 3 of the top offenses in the NFL coming in over the next 4 weeks. This will be our litmus test. PS…if the Saints put up 49 on the Giants, what will they hang on us? WOW!

Positives: Danny Amendola finally got to play receiver and proved he can be more than a kick returner. Now let’s use him! I wasn’t upset with Bulger’s interception because it was a great defensive play (granted about 2 yards underthrown), but we finally threatened deep. We forced turnovers, but couldn’t convert them into TD’s. The Offensive line had decent pass blocking although Jags are tied for dead last in sacks.

Spags: “I told them we win together and lose together, they all understand. Now we need to learn from these mistakes and get better next week”. Not to bust his chops, but Linehan and Martz used to say the same thing!Thanks Brad! What do you other fans have to say?

Sunday, October 18, 2009

St. Louis Rams Complete The Perfect Season

The St. Louis Rams completed their perfect season today with a 23-20 Overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tomorrow will be the one year anniversary of the St. Louis Rams stunning 34-14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. That is one calendar year folks, without watching our beloved Rams win a regular season football game. When the salary cap and parity have made it so easy to compete the Rams have found a way to lose 16 straight games. Scott Linehan has been gone for a while now, and the Rams have still managed to lose under Jim Haslett and Steve Spagnuolo as well. Although the Rams were only 9 yards away from winning the game late today, you just never had a feeling they will pull it out. If we feel that way how must they feel in the locker room?

The Rams have been perfect, 16 straight losses. The Rams are 0-9 in their last nine road games and 0-7 in their last seven home games. To put things into perspective the Rams have been outscored 456 to 190 points in those 16 games. The Detroit Lions who went 0-16 in 2008 scored 268 points while allowing 517. The Lions were the laughing stock of the country the only difference between the 2008 Lions and our Rams is the calendar year. The Rams have lost 9 of those 16 games by at least 19 points. We have been routinely blown out like a college team.

Today's loss was almost worse than being blown out. The Rams took the opening kickoff and marched down to take an early 7-0 lead on a pass from Marc Bulger to Donnie Avery. The Rams led from that point on until only 8 minutes and 5 seconds remained in the game. Then just when you thought it was over Leonard Little made a fantastic play, on an awful pass by David Garrard and intercepted a pass and took it 36 yards for what looked like the winning TD. However nothing is that easy for the Rams. The Jaguars went 75 yards on 9 plays to take the lead back 20-17. The Rams had one last chance and after an unbelievable screen pass catch and run by Steven Jackson the Rams were able to move down the field. When Randy McMichael caught a 13 yard pass and took the ball to the Jags nine yard line with only 30 seconds left, a win was finally in our site.

The Rams that are 5-33 in their last 38 games then took over. The Rams who wasted 2 timeouts earlier in the half only managed two incomplete passes and never once threw a pass into the end zone and were still left with 1 time out when time expired. The Rams never saw the ball in OT as the Jags went 62 yards in 13 plays and capped off the game and the Rams perfect season with a Josh Scobee 36-yard field goal.

Ram Man Calls Out Chris Long

After 16 straight losses about all you can really do is laugh. That is why when I saw the following post by Ram Man one of the top Rams fans ever I had to share it with you. Karl Sides aka Ram Man said

"Can we get a DNA test on Chris Long? I think he may be the product of a lovenight with the milk man and not HOFer Howie Long! He had a terrible day inJacksonville. maybe he can buy a sack with the paychecks he is cashing".

That is great stuff and hopefully everyone will at least laugh because that is about all we can do with this 2009 version of the St. Louis Rams.

Week 6 – Rams @ Jacksonville Matchup

Well Rams fans it has now been over a calendar year since the St. Louis Rams won a NFL regular season road game. a 19=17 victory over the Washington Redskins. The Jacksonville Jaguars are coming off a 41-0 pounding against the Seattle Seahawks. Even the Rams only lost 28-0 to the high powered Seahags. On the positive side the Jags lost 41-0 so they must not be very good right, or will they be that more pissed off and take it out on the St. Louis Rams? The Jags are 30th on defense in total yards and passing yards allowed. On the flip side the Rams are 31st in points allowed and 32nd in points scored, an awful combination.

The Jags took an interesting approach to the offseason one that the Rams could have taken. With their first two picks in the 2009 NFL Draft the Jaguars selected offensive tackles Eugene Monroe & Eben Britton. The Jaguars have each already in the starting lineup, while the Rams are still trying to get Jason Smith on the field at RT. The Rams were looking for more long term upside but meanwhile we are losing game after game, will the gamble ever pay off? The Jags then followed up drafting a DT, CB and 2 WRs seems like they had the same needs heading into the draft that the Rams had. Which has done a better job of filling their needs?

As for this game I think you simply have to follow the numbers. David Garrard has 5 TD passes in two home game, while the Rams have only scored 4 touchdowns the entire season and NONE on the ground even with Steven Jackson. The Jags are capable of putting some points on the board while the Rams rank 31st in points against. In addition the Jags will be getting WR Mike Sims-Walker back today. With Sims-Walker and Torry Holt on the outside and the Rams inexperience at CB the Rams could struggle again today. Maurice Jones-Drew and David Garrard are very hard to tackle so it will be very important for the Rams to get a great game from their front four today.

The Rams will have Marc Bulger back in the saddle at QB today. The Rams are only completing 56% of their passes which is bad news since rarely do they even throw the ball more than 10 yards down field. Bulger is coming back from another injury and I expect him to stay rusty. Steven Jackson has been putting up numbers and is on pace for 1400+ yards rushing but he has ZERO touchdowns, has fumbled a couple of times and continues to miss blitz pickups. I expect Maurice Jones-Drew to outplay Steven Jackson today.

The bottom line is there is still no reason to believe that the Rams believe they can win a game. Until they can believe it and do it, we will continue to pick against them. The numbers are just too heavy against them. In addition to losing 15 straight games, the Rams have also been outscored 146 to 34. Jacksonville is coming off an embarrassing loss and Jack Del Rio is not going to let that fly. I expect Jacksonville to be nasty on defense today and try to knock the Rams around and out. The most telling number may be the fact that in Las Vegas the Rams are a 10 point underdog to a team that just lost 41-0. The Jags can also still salvage their season with 3 straight games against the winless Rams, Titans, and Chiefs. Could the Jags be 5-4 through 9 weeks? I will exit with a quote from Brian Billick "Rams need more talentJacksonville has shown signs of being a very good team. I'm not sure St. Louis has the talent yet to beat anybody".

Saturday, October 17, 2009

NFL Week 6 Predictions

I thought it would be easy to get 10+ right last week but I only managed 9. Some teams like Jacksonville are hard to figure out. Every week I will make my NFL game day predictions. I would love it if you share your opinions, or your own predictions in the comment area of our St. Louis Rams Blog. All picks will be straight-up, not against the spread. Good Luck.Week 6 Predictions below:

Dave Checketts Kicks Out Rush Limbaugh

Well as you may have heard, lots of people are talking about the St. Louis Rams lately. They are not talking about our 0-5 record or even our 15 straight losses, they are talking about the possibility of Rush Limbaugh being part owner of the team. At first this appeared to be great news, the Rams are for sale and Dave Checketts is putting together a group of investors to buy the team and hopefully keep them in St. Louis for a long time. That news was quickly replaced by the lightning rod news that Rush Limbaugh was going to be a member of that group. So our team sale discussion has been replaced by political and racial discussions.

It now appears that Dave Checketts has been forced to rethink his hand and who he may want to partner with after many members of the media, NFL players, NFL Owners, and even the Commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell has spoken out against Rush Limbaugh as a part owner. NFL sources are saying that Checketts will replace Limbaugh in hopes of making his bid more viable. Since 24 of the 32 NFL owners would have to approve the sale and with Colts owner Jim Irsay already speaking out and the commissioner not on board it makes good sense for Checketts to start looking for other investment partners.

Everyone by now has seen or heard the comments made back in 2003 by Rush Limbaugh on NFL Countdown speaking of Donovan McNabb"I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well." Many people consider this a racial statement made by Rush and it did not go over well then and it still does not today. This week Rush's problems were compounded when the following quote "Let's face it, we didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark." which is apparently from a 2006 book by Jack Huberman titled "101 People Who Are Really Screwing America." came to light. Rush Limbaugh has stated that he never said this but in 2009 that is like Paris Hilton saying she is a virgin. It is too late, nobody cares about the facts in this day and age of TMZ and paparazzi Rush has already been burnt.

I think Dave Checketts would be an amazing owner of the St. Louis Rams and hope he can still get a group together to make the purchase. I have heard from many of you that would not have supported the Rams anymore if Rush Limbaugh was involved as a owner. I would like to hear your thoughts on ownership of the St. Louis Rams now.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Remember This Guy

Local Kirkwood Missouri product Jeremy Maclin is starting to show his stuff in the NFL playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. Former Missouri Tiger Maclin was the Eagles 19th pick in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Maclin caught his first two touchdowns of his NFL career Sunday in the Eagles 33-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For the season Maclin now has 12 catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns. In addition the Eagles have used Maclin to return a kick or two as well. Only Donnie Avery with 196 yards has more receiving yards than Maclin, who was at least 3rd on the Eagles depth chart starting the 2009 season. The Eagles are loaded with speed and playmakers. The Rams need to get playmakers on this roster soon. The Eagles always stock players like the top college teams do. The Eagles released Greg Lewis and Hank Baskett and the Rams took Danny Amendola off of their practice squad. All of that depth on one roster. The Rams need to get to the point where they can have quality players with quality backups at key positions. Props to you Jeremy!

St. Louis Rams Sign Tim Carter Again

According to the St. Louis Rams, they have once again signed Tim Carter to the roster after losing Gary Gibson for the year to an injury. Tim Carter has played 6 years in the NFL so he would easily be the Rams most experienced wide receiver. Carter has 80 receptions for 1084 yards and 4 touchdowns in his career. Carter a 2nd round draft pick of the New York Giants in 2002 has never really been a factor in the NFL. Carters best year was way back in 2003 when he managed 26 receptions. The Rams in need of playmakers are just trying to have enough warm bodies at WR to get through some games right now.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Minnesota Vikings Bury St. Louis Rams 38-10

Well it only took the Minnesota Vikings seven minutes to bury the St. Louis Rams Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome. I was not expecting much with the Rams facing the undefeated Vikings and that is about what I received, although some others will tell you how close it could have been. Here we are going to go with the truth. The defense which we keep hearing is playing well and getting better opened the game by letting the Vikings walk down the field 80 yards to take a 7-0 lead early. This is the defense we continue to get when we need a stop. The Rams actually opened on offense with a nice play action pass to the missing in action Randy McMichael who made his 11th catch of the season. Four plays later the Rams were on the Vikings 36, Kyle Boller dropped back to pass, was sacked and fumbled. Jared Allen picked up the fumble and ran 52 yards for a TD, and a 14-0 lead for the Vikings. Game Over.

You will hear the Rams put up 400 yards of offense, we held Adrian Peterson to 69 yards, we led in time of possession, if only we did not make any mistakes. Well I am tired of the too many mistakes. Bad teams make mistakes and this team is awful. Bottom line is the Rams lost 38-10. Next week the game starts 0-0 and the Jacksonville Jaguars who lost 41-0 today could care less how well you think you could have played. How much better are we playing? We lost 38-10 at home, we have lost 7 straight at home, and 15 straight overall, are we really playing better?

Early in the 3rd quarter with the Rams trailing 17-3, they pinned the Vikings deep on their own 10 yard line. If we can stop them we would have great field position and another shot to get back in a game. Did the defense step up? No, the Vikings drove 90 yards in only 7 plays to go up 24-3. I don't want to hear they played hard, they played until the end, the effort is there, who cares. Everyone on the field is a millionaire they should all be trying, giving 100%, fighting to the end, etc. Why is the other team scoring more and allowing less? We need to find the answer to that question not worry about telling us how a TD that makes the game 31-10 shows they are not quitting. Let's hope they are not quitting. Shouldn't we expect more?

Week 5 – Vikings @ Rams Matchup

Well normally I do my weekly analysis of the St. Louis Rams matchup. This week I am not going to bother to give you tons of information about the game against the Minnesota Vikings. I will simply say this is a complete miss-match. Sure Minnesota played an emotional game Monday Night against the Green Bay Packers, and their next two games are against the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, but this is NOT a trap game. The Rams would be lucky to trap a mouse between them using all 53 players on the roster. Sure I watched Any Given Sunday and have seen many upsets in the NFL but this will not be one of them. Stating this by the way does not make me a bad fan but a realist and there is a difference. I will be there early, cheer for my team and hope for a victory but at the moment I give them zero percent chance of being in this game. Hopefully the Rams can thrill me with a win but how?

The Rams are last in points scored, and 30th in total yards and passing yards in the NFL. The Vikings 118 points scored, are third most in the NFL, while the Rams have only scored 26. Brett Favre alone has 8 TD passes. The Rams are still looking for their first rushing TD, while Adrian Peterson has racked up 5 already. Adrian Peterson has 92 touches on the year and look for him to have a great game against the Rams on Sunday.

It is simple, we lack skill, talent, and playmakers. In this game the Rams are facing a Vikings team that is loaded with playmakers. On offense the Vikings have all world QB Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian, Percy Harvin, Chester Taylor & Visanthe Shiancoe. I can't even count the amount of bad matchups this causes for the Rams. The offensive line features great blocking on the left side by Steve Hutchinson and Bryant McKinnie. When the Rams go to run the ball they will face the wall of Pat and Kevin Williams inside. When the Rams go to pass they will need to find a way to block the NFC sack leader Jared Allen, and get the ball past one of the best cornerbacks in the league Antoine Winfield.

Hopefully the Rams front office will get a good look at a team that is loaded with playmakers, and see that they are needed to compete and win in the NFL. Nate Jones, Keenan Burton, Donnie Avery, and Danny Amendola are not the answer and an absolute joke that in week 5 of an NFL season they are the only receivers on the roster.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Marc Bulger To Sit On Sunday

Marc Bulger has done some light throwing this week in practice for the St. Louis Rams, but Steve Spagnuolo has said Kyle Boller will very likely start the game against the Minnesota Vikings. This is good news for Marc who has a bruised rotator cuff on his throwing shoulder, because the Vikings have Jared Allen the current NFC leader in sacks. Will Alex Barron who was benched last week be able to bounce back and block Allen? I am not betting on it. Keith Null better loosen up prior to this game because he may see some action.

NFL Week 5 Predictions

WOW what a great week, week 4 was. We went 12-2. Week 5 looks like another week you should be able to get another 10+ correct. Every week I will make my NFL game day predictions. I would love it if you share your opinions, or your own predictions in the comment area of our St. Louis Rams Blog. All picks will be straight-up, not against the spread. Good Luck. Week 5 Predictions below:

Thursday, October 8, 2009

St. Louis Rams Captains For Week 5

The St. Louis Rams have announced their three Team Captains for this weeks game against the Minnesota Vikings. Offense - Richie Incognito, Defense - Clifton Ryan, Special Teams - Kenneth Darby.I see now why we lack leadership on Sunday. Incognito takes stupid penalties, and gets benched for a play earlier in the year. Alex Barron gets a 5 yard penalty and gets benched for half of a game. Now Incognito is the Offensive Captain are you kidding me. How in the world is he the leader or captain of the offense? I know the captains don't mean much but if you are a player on this team you have to wonder what is going on.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Rush Limbaugh and Dave Checketts Bid For Rams

The NFL confirmed Rush Limbaugh and Dave Checketts have placed a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams. This is the most excited I have been about the Rams since their 3 game winning streak to close out the 2006 NFL season. Word is Checketts has gathered a group including Limbaugh that have enough finances to make a bid to purchase at least 60 percent of the Rams. Forbes has listed the Rams franchise as valued at slightly over 900 million recently. Today on 101 ESPN they had on a CNN money expert who said in the current economy the Rams may only fetch 700 million, that maybe why all of a sudden we have heard there have been 3 bids made to purchase the Rams.

This would be the best case for Rams fans in our attempt to keep them in St. Louis for a long time. Since Checketts group owns the St. Louis Blues he would not be allowed to own the Rams and move them out of St. Louis unless the Blues were out of St. Louis as well. The lease issue of the Edward Jones Dome still hangs over our heads for now but the bigger issue is keeping the team in St. Louis and getting a strong ownership group that cares about the NFL, the St. Louis Rams, and the city of St. Louis. In Dave Checketts we would be in good hands. I am not sure why people are already speaking out against Rush Limbaugh as an owner the current owners of the Rams are nowhere to be found. Remember Bill Bidwell, we could do worse. Let's hope Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez sell to the right group for Rams fans.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

The Whole Rams Organization Needs An Enema

I watched a lot of football this weekend, too much probably, but among the comments I heard one stood out and it was "The whole organization needs an enema". I don't remember who said it or who they were talking about, the Raiders I believe, but I am now going to use it after watching the St. Louis Rams today. This Rams organization does need an enema. Before I get into the game itself look at what we know already about the Rams. The Rams have lost 14 straight NFL regular season football games, are 0-4 in 2009, and have outscored 108-24. The Rams are dead last by a mile in scoring and have been shutout twice in the season, for the first time since 1942.

Tomorrow you will probably hear the same softball questions and answers between the St. Louis Rams and the media, so I will bring you the truth. The Rams themselves have posted and sent out a Twitter that says "A tightly contested first half got away from the Rams in the second as San Francisco surged to a 35-0 win on Sunday". Sure it was only 7-0 at halftime but did anyone think the Rams were going to score with a group of receivers that included Avery, Burton, Amendola and Martin? This team is total void of talent. Bernie Miklasz said "The Rams are the worst non-expansion year NFL team I've ever seen".

We thought the enema started when Jay Zygmunt was replaced by Billy Devaney. However as we look at the current roster and the roster from the start of the 2008 season, it is clear this team does not have more talent than it had previously. It is also too early to grade the 2008 and 2009 drafts but we certainly will not be seeing many of these guys on Sunday for years to come. Steve Spagnuolo gets a pass for now, as we all know you can't polish a turd.

I am really too mad to even discuss the game or the awful announcing from the Emmy award couple of Ron Pitts and John Lynch. For those of you die hard Rams fans that could stomach the entire game you already know the Rams were shutout 35-0. The Rams have now started three straight season with an 0-4 record. As I predicted today's game would be as painful as watching the previous Redskins game or an enema, see how I did that. The Rams managed just 10 first downs, half in the 4th quarter, and only 177 total yards. The 49ers easily bottled up Steven Jackson and the running game, harassed Kyle Boller and the woeful passing game, and basically embarrassed the Rams.

The details of the game can be summed up on two plays: The Rams received the opening kickoff, Danny Amendola broke into the open and returned the kick to the 49ers 4 yard line. Of course Anthony Smith was called for holding. Anthony Smith is a backup safety the Rams picked up off waivers back on September 6th. The ball was placed on the Rams 22 yard line, were they promptly went 3-and-out and punted the ball to the 49ers. The second play happened with 5:40 left in the first half with the score tied 0-0. A short punt from Lee bounded down the field, while throwing a block Quincy Butler kicked the ball into the Rams End Zone. Butler quickly got to the ball but tried to pick it up and run with it. This turned out to be a bad decision as he dropped the ball on the ground and Scott McKillop recovered for a 49ers TD. We have seen the rest before. Game Over.

Week 4 – Rams @ 49ers Matchup

Sunday the 0-3 St. Louis Rams will take on the first place 2-1 San Francisco 49er at 3:15PM CST. The media and experts have these two teams miles apart. Further evidence of this is the 10 point spread in Vegas. This is a 49ers team that is lucky to score 20 points in a game and they are a 10 point favorite. So pencil the Rams in for another 10 point outburst today.

So how did we get here? We know the Rams, 13 straight losses, 5 wins in their last 35 games, awful drafting, etc. However you don't have to look far to find what could have been our twin. The 49ers were 12-20 during the 2007, 2008 NFL season. They had a lack of talent and depth, and a coach in Mike Nolan who could not get the team going, not unlike Scott Linehan in St. Louis. So the 49ers hired Mike Singletary during the 2008 season and they have a 7-5 record with him under the helm. same team different attitude. In addition the 49ers have drafted much better than the Rams. Top draft picks are an obvious issue for the Rams. Their last 4 number 1's are Tye Hill (GONE), Adam Carriker (IR), Chris Long (2nd teamer now?), and Jason Smith (Injured). The Rams have received absolutely NO impact from these players. With Chris Long now seeing spot duty, and Jason Smith playing right tackle you could say we wasted all four selections. The 49ers on the other hand drafted Michael Crabtree, Kentwan Balmer, Patrick Willis. Joe Staley, Vernon Davis, & Manny Lawson in the first round over the past four years. These players are 5 of their 22 starters and they would be 6 for 6 if Michael Crabtree had decided to sign his contract.

So what do we see happening on Sunday? Well these teams are still very similar on the offensive side of the ball, so similar that each team is averaging 276 yards per game. Neither teams scares anyone with their passing game. Both teams try to play it close to the best with the power running game of Frank Gore and Steven Jackson. The major difference is the 49ers defense has helped their team score. The 49ers are 10th in scoring even though they are 28th in yardage. The 49ers will be without Frank Gore today, and are coming off a game that they were 0-11 on third down conversions. The Rams have the worst receiving group I have ever seen take the field in the NFL. The 49ers are not far behind. Isaac Bruce is the 49ers receiver with 100 yards receiving through 3 games.

Defense, here is the difference in this game. The 49ers are aggressive and smash mouth since Mike Singletary took over. Patrick Willis is a poor man's Ray Lewis. The 49ers play a 3-4 and have an outstanding group of linebackers in Parys Haralson, Manny Lawson, Takeo Spikes & Patrick Willis. These linebackers come down hill and will be after Steven Jackson all day. They 49ers will stack the box and they will not let Steven Jackson beat them. With one of the best cornerbacks in the game in Nate Clements along with Dre' Bly, Shawntae Spencer, and Mike Lewis. They are probably laughing during breakfast right now thinking of the Rams receivers.

With Frank Gore out and rookie Glenn Coffee averaging 1.8 yards per carry in, this should be another game that the Rams should stay in. This game should be similar to the Rams/Redskins battle. The difference has to be the defense. The Rams have a hard time pressuring the QB, and if they can not provide the Rams offense with good field position points will be hard to come by. I think the 49ers will look like 11 swarming bees today and really hand it to the Rams. Kyle Boller is going to be running for his life today.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

NFL Week 4 Predictions

Every week I will make my NFL game day predictions. I would love it if you share your opinions, or your own predictions in the comment area of our St. Louis Rams Blog. All picks will be straight-up, not against the spread. Good Luck. Week 4 Predictions below: